Monday, August 31, 2009

Happy End of the Month Everybody!

I love that feeling of early summer mornings, when you wake up with the sun streaming through the curtains and those early morning breezes come through the window and whisper in your ear. The serenity of stumbling through the quiet house, into the kitchen to brew that perfect pot of coffee and begin the day...it's heaven to me. I spend the next hour or so enjoying that coffee while perusing through interesting food, photo and art blogs. Some of these are so captivating that I'm off in another world for ages. It's just the reality of all my own projects looming that quickly draws me back to life..

Today I'm off work and not due back into the restaurant till Wednesday. I'm so thankful for that and will spend the next few glorious days painting and enjoying what is left of the Toronto summer.

On another note, I had some of my art up at a gallery/co-op in town. When I went in to check on what had been sold, they informed me that they "lost" one of my pieces and had no record of it at all. Can you imagine that happening?? I am so pissed off right now and will have to figure out how to deal with them later. In the meanwhile, I promptly removed the remaining pieces and took them with me!

Just a really quick sketch for you. Playing around with some ideas. The hair on her is really a disaster....









xoxo with Love

Friday, August 28, 2009

Back to Reality!

I've had a few days to basically just paint and work on pieces for my upcoming shows and not have to worry about rushing off to the restaurant every evening. But that all comes to a screeching halt this afternoon as I must return to work.

On a brighter note, the Incentive Works convention was an amazing opportunity for me to network, meet new people and really introduce a whole new group of individuals to my art! It was incredibly rewarding and I cannot thank the organizers at Tourism Toronto enough for including me in the event. Hopefully, some actual work will pan out for me through the contacts that I made. Here are a few pics from the show...I was painting live on the spot! The photos aren't wonderful but once I get better ones, will post those too. I've also posted the finished photo of the Girl with the Porcelain Mask.














Have a great weekend everyone.
xoxo with love .

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Heellooo out there!

I'm just posting a quickie today...so much to do and so little time! There's not much of any "arty" updates at the mo, most of my new stuff is currently at the printers so I'll have some prints for my show next week. I also will try to get those framed and matted so they look a bit better.

On another note, I have decided (with much encouragement from my 7 readers)to post a bit more about personal stuff. I mean how can an artist truly write about their journey without discussing the trials and tribs of their every day life, right? It may be nothing fantastic, but perhaps a bit more regular and hopefully I can entice more followers!!

These photos were taken a few weeks ago at my birthday dinner/night out. My close friends Sheila and Linda are in the pics. I think we were dancing to MJ in the second one..such good times! Oh those crazy kids...

My thought this morning by the way, was that the only thing that I always know for sure is that I have doubt..it's an absolute certainty.

xoxo with love.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Torn...



So I've been struggling for the past few days, trying to determine whether or not to post more than just my art on this blog. My intent, when I began the site, was to promote myself and chat about what I was working on. But it has occurred to me since then, that perhaps I need a venue to vent a bit further about my personal life. It's always a bit of a struggle when this sort of thing comes up, as you can never tell when you are about to get too personal and delve into issues that quite possibly no one else but yourself will even care about or maybe even offend some. Sigh....regardless, I will continue to write about my painting and maybe slip in a few juicy tidbits about my life in the process!

I will also be doing a live painting demo in a few weeks at INCENTIVE WORKS 2009! So please drop by and check me out if you are in the Toronto area.



Here's a snapshot of the piece that is taking me longer than expected...a few other issues have arisen with work and upcoming shows and so I have been a bit distracted! The goal is to have this completed by tomorrow (gulp), so please stay tuned....

xoxo with love.

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Thank You Cheryl...this is an Amazing Honor!


Hello All! I was bestowed this inspiring Bella Sinclair award from a wonderful artist and friend, Cheryl Pastor. She is a prolific artist and her work speaks for itself! This award has been passed along in the name of many dedicated and creative individuals and I am truly honored to be included in this group of extraordinary people. Everyone has been so kind with high praises and constant support at every turn. It is a really amazing network of artists that I have been introduced to. There are so many moments that I feel the need to throw in the towel and give up on this dream but with encouragement (like this) from all you out there in Blog land, my dreams are closer to becoming a reality.

Thank you to everyone who has made me laugh, cry and basically just put a smile on my face with their love and support. I am truly touched...

xoxo with love always.

Sunday, August 2, 2009

A Happy Birthday posting...



Today is another birthday....35 and counting I suppose! It's always nice to get the birthday wishes phone calls from family and close friends. I will be heading out for sushi this afternoon and then either karaoke or bowling later on this evening with some gal pals. Should be great for a few laughs...I guess this is what ole-timers do to celebrate.

I'm rushing to finish this painting as well...the goal was to have it done by this coming Tuesday but as you can see, I have barely got the sketch done on the canvas. It's going to be a few more sleepless nights before I can say this one is complete! Anyhow, enjoy the horrible photo for now and more to come later.

xoxo with love.